Online shopping continues to gain popularity. Every day more and more people make the leap to buy online. Many businesses wish to capitalize on the momentum in the online retail sector. Thanks to new technology that measures the way consumers behave when they are engaging in commerce activities, retailers are now beginning to understand the various ways that people shop. These consumer insights can provide targeted incentives to those customers, in an attempt to gain their business.
There are many different online shopper personality types, or behavioral characteristics of shoppers. Each has certain traits and skillful marketing professionals stress the importance of learning each type in order to design a shopping services that are attractive to members of each type or customer segment. Because of the large number of online retailers, online shoppers need to be wooed with an online shopping experience that is tailored to their specific online shopping personality type, so they do not look elsewhere for their purchases. The following is a list of some of the most common Online Shopping Personality Types, based on consumer research of online shoppers, in no particular order:

Recreational Shoppers:

Recreational shoppers are all over the place. They flit from one website to another very quickly, and only stop when a truly significant deal catches their eye. You have to really come up with something eye-catching if you hope to catch these customers. These are customers that like to click on ‘similar product’ links, and that are likely to spend a great deal of time at your online retail store if your present enough engaging content to keep them there.

Deal Hunters:

Deal hunters are in search of the holy grail of deals. They purchase items used or refurbished if it will get them a better deal. These are customers who might buy an item they don’t actually need if you present them with a good enough deal for it. Deal hunters are also often on the lookout for free shipping deals. Many deal hunters refuse to make purchases at online stores that do not offer free shipping if they can find a competing online store that offers the same product with free shipping.

The Flitter:

These shoppers can be ‘the fish that got away’ if you are not careful. One way to keep them shopping is to ensure that the shopping cart on your website remains active for a long time, so that if they are in another window and forget that they are in the middle of a transaction, they can simply return and finish it. If the shopping cart at your online retail store times out and the items are no longer there, the customer is less likely to re-add the items to the cart and purchase them.

The Researcher:

Researchers love to learn everything they can about a product before purchasing it online. They may watch a product for a while on various websites, to see what the average price is, so that they can know for sure when they are presented with a price whether or not it is a good deal. Researchers also enjoy reading reviews from other customers, and regularly rely on ratings and reviews when deciding what to purchase online.

Impatient Shoppers:

Impatient shoppers will not stick around if your checkout process is lengthy and complicated. They do not want to waste time signing up for an account, they want to buy their items immediately, and if you cannot provide them with immediate checkout, they will go to another website that will. To capture this type of online shopper, make sure that your website loads quickly, and that your checkout process is as streamlined as possible.

Rewards Shoppers:

Many online shoppers like to patronize the same online retail stores repeatedly. These brand loyalists enjoy customer loyalty programs that give rewards or points for purchases, and love to take part in deals and promotions that make them feel like they are working towards a goal with their purchases. Rewards shoppers enjoy taking part in SMS Text Message Marketing campaigns, where they can receive messages about sales and specials they qualify for send directly to their personal mobile devices.

Hipsters:

Some online shoppers only purchase high end retail brands. These customers will purchase these brands from various sellers, but only buy the very best and premium brand names, and also generally wish to purchase the latest and newest models of items. You will find that these customers are willing to spend a great deal of money in order to get top of the line items that are hot, fresh, and in style.

Day Dreamers:

Some people really love to make wish lists. This type of shopper will typically have wish lists at several online retail stores, and enjoys dreaming about their ideal purchases, but needs a push in order to actualize the transaction. You can convince them to purchase by lowering the price of items on their wish list, so that they can’t help but take advantage of the savings you are offering.

Intrepid Explorers:

Some online shoppers are after one thing, and only one thing. Those shoppers will not purchase anything else and will not deviate from their quest for the specific item until they find it. Once they find the product they are looking for, they may reward you by purchasing additional items from your online store because they are so happy that they found what they are looking for. This type of shopper typically enjoys websites that have search functionality, or site maps that can make it easy to pinpoint the item they are seeking.
Consumer insights is only of benefit to you – if you use it. If you are the owner or operator of an online retail entity, you should definitely take into account the variety of online shopping personality types. Shoppers will reward you by making more purchases, and your profit margins will most definitely rise! If you are looking to increase the amount of customers who purchase items from your online store, you should definitely use this information to your advantage.

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Corin Birchall is a Retail Sales & Marketing Consultant and founder of “Kerching Retail - helping to make your till ring”. His consultancy works throughout the UK and Europe.
Corin is an active writer, coach and public speaker, helping to develop and grow a wide range of businesses & business leaders from Leisure and Retail sectors